Then-Vice President Mike Pence is seen on his phone in a safe place during the January 6, 2021 attack on the United States Capitol. (Commission January 6)
Former Vice President Mike Pence did not want to be seen fleeing the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021, according to testimony provided to the House select committee by advisers and aides working for him at the time.
Pence’s whereabouts on Jan. 6 when pro-Trump rioters began breaking into the Capitol have been a matter of intrigue since security footage emerged that the former vice president was being evacuated from the building by his secret service. .
The committee on Thursday showed pictures of Pence on his phone in a safe place after he was evacuated and witnesses provided new details on how he resisted Secret Service orders to get into a car.
“When we got down to the safe place, the secret service told us to get in the cars, which I did, and then I realized that the vice president hadn’t done it,” said Greg Jacob, a former Pence chief lawyer. , during the hearing. “So I got out of the car where I had gotten in and I realized that the vice president had refused to get in the car.”
“The head of his secret service, Tim, said, ‘I assure you we won’t leave the building with your permission.'” And the vice president had said something like, it’s you who’s behind the wheel, ”Jacob said.
“And the vice president didn’t want to risk the world seeing the vice president of the United States fleeing the United States Capitol. He was determined to complete the work we had set out to do that day,” he added.
Jacob also said Pence and his wife Karen reacted “with frustration” that Trump never called them to check on them as a crowd invaded the Capitol building with Pence in the crosshairs.
Pence and Trump’s relationship deteriorated profoundly before the January 6, 2021, session of Congress, as Pence made it clear that he would not comply with the scheme to overturn Trump’s election results.
Trump, in turn, began criticizing his vice president in his public statements, arousing the anger of his supporters.
For his part, while working from a safe place on the Capitol, Pence contacted congressional leaders, the acting Secretary of Defense and others “to check on his security and address the growing crisis,” Aguilar said Thursday. .
CNN’s David Shortell contributed to this post.